Topic: Arabic literature

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Baghdad Reading Festival on the Tigris (image: Birgit Svensson)

Iraq's art and literature scene

Culture boom in Baghdad

Frustrated with their politicians, young Iraqis are turning their backs on politics and throwing themselves into cultural life. Birgit Svensson reports from BaghdadMore

Protests in Iraq: The streets speak for themselves!Reform in Iraq: Muqtada al-Sadr must court the political eliteFrom Basra to Baghdad: Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth living
A cradle in the desert (image: Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Sabah Sanhouri's "Paradise"

The last resort

Sabah Sanhouri is a fresh, new literary voice from Sudan. Her novel "Paradise" revolves around an agency of the same name, an organisation that assists desperate people in ending their lives. By Volker KaminskiMore

Leila Aboulela's "Bird Summons": The arc of self-discoveryAbdelaziz Baraka Sakin’s "The Messiah of Darfur": A peacemaker in times of warTayeb Salih′s ″Season of Migration to the North″: A literary hall of mirrors
A child looks up to the sky on a street full of rubble and destroyed buildings in Gaza (photo: Mahmoud Hams/Getty Images/picture alliance)

Palestinian writer Asmaa al-Atawna

"No stereotypical views of Arab women"

Asmaa al-Atawna's debut novel "Missing Picture" has been published in German translation (Keine Luft zum Atmen – Mein Weg in die Freiheit). In it, she describes life in Gaza from the perspective of a rebellious girl who is struggling to fit in at school and home. After fleeing to Europe, she also has to fight for her self-determination there too. Claudia Mende spoke to the authorMore

Adania Shibli's "Minor Detail": What is Palestinian literature exactly?Recreating Palestine in literature: A nation crafted from words"The Blue Between Sky and Water" by Susan Abulhawa: Love and suffering in Gaza
Al Saqi Books shopfront in Bayswater, London (photo: Al-Saqi Facebook)

Middle East literature

Al Saqi, Europe’s largest Middle Eastern bookseller, to close

London-based Al Saqi Books, Europe’s largest specialist bookseller for publications from the Middle East, has been forced to close because of the hike in prices of Arabic-language books and because Brexit has been "detrimental" to businessMore

LGBTQ+ Pride: Being queer and ArabLondonʹs Mfest and the anthology "Donʹt Panic, Iʹm Islamic": The first great anti-Trump bookQantara dossier: Arabic literature
What is Palestinian? The Israeli population includes about twenty percent Arabs, they are Muslims or Christians and often refer to themselves as Palestinians. Many of them live in the big cities like Jerusalem or, as here, in the old city of Jaffa in Tel Aviv (photo: AFP)

Adania Shibli's "Minor Detail"

What is Palestinian literature exactly?

What do we mean when we talk about Palestinian literature: an exploration using the example of Adania Shibli’s slender novel "Minor Detail". By Miryam SchellbachMore

Recreating Palestine in literature: A nation crafted from wordsProfessor Timothy Brennan: Why Edward Said still mattersPalestinian American writer Susan Abulhawa: ″Literature is a facet of society″Palestinian-Israeli writer and artist Aida Nasrallah: "We have to re-think the concept of identity"
Sufi shrine to Mustafa Devati in Istanbul (photo: Marian Brehmer)

God's love for all

Sufism is not just Muslim

Sufism has fluid boundaries. Just like Islam, Sufism is inconceivable without its late antique roots. Then again, it has also exerted an influence on Hinduism. Moreover, the Sufic doctrine of divine love exists independently of Islam. By Stefan WeidnerMore

Islamic mysticism: Understanding the SufisIslam in Pakistan: The land of the SufisWomen and Islamic studies: Annemarie Schimmel’s pioneering take on Islam Qantara dossier: Islamic mysticism | Sufism
Goethe Medal winner Mohamed Abla from Egypt at the award ceremony in Weimar, 28.08.2022 (photo: Goethe-Institut)

Mohamed Abla awarded Goethe Medal

Telling stories through art

Mohamed Abla is the first visual artist from Egypt to be awarded the Goethe-Institut’s Goethe Medal, Germany’s highest honour in the area of foreign cultural policy. Stefan Weidner sheds some light on the artist’s workMore

Cartoon museum in Egypt: "Provisions" for travellers to Tunis Village Art and revolution in the Arab world in 2015: Struggling against the restoration of "order"2022 Goethe Medal awardees: Outstanding contributors to cultural dialogue
Syrian clarinettist and composer Kinan Azmeh in front of the actors and artistic directors of the Osnabruck Theatre (photo: Marian Brehmer)

Morgenland Festival Osnabruck

Songs for days to come

This year’s Morgenland Festival opened with the premiere of Kinan Azmeh’s musical theatre piece, “Songs for Days to Come”, based on fifteen poems by contemporary Syrian poets. Marian Brehmer reports for Qantara.deMore

Michael Dreyer and the Morgenland Festival: A hub connecting Orient and Occident16th Morgenland Festival Osnabruck: A virtual journey of sound across the BalkansKinan Azmeh and Dima Orsho: "All we can do is sing and play our hearts out"Oriental music in the West: A creative musical laboratory at the heart of Germany
Sadly familiar with disasters: iftar meal in Aleppo, another city destroyed by Russian bombs, pictured in late April 2022 (photo: picture-alliance)

Khaled Khalifa’s “No One Prayed Over Their Graves”

The maelstrom of Aleppo

Longlisted for the 2020 International Prize for Arabic Fiction and now available in German translation, Khaled Khalifa’s novel “No One Prayed Over Their Graves” details lives and loves lost against the backdrop of a city undergoing seismic change. Joseph Croitoru read the bookMore

Khaled Khalifaʹs "Der Tod is ein muehseliges Geschaeft": A funeral cortege through hell Syrian author and poet Ra′id Wahsh: Who ate the sky?Syrian writer Samar Yazbek: Divided society, divided souls
Guest of Honour Germany at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (photo: Abu Dhabi International Book Fair)

Abu Dhabi Book Fair

Arabic literature, criticism and commerce

These days, at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair, the problems of the Arab book market and Arab literature are discussed with astonishing frankness. It has also become an international event – on a scale not seen since the Arab revolutions. Stefan Weidner reports from Abu DhabiMore

Syrian poet Adonis: ''I'm one hundred percent on the side of the Syrian revolution''Literary power politics: Spotlight on the UAE's 30th Abu Dhabi Book FairQantara dossier: "Arabic Literature"
A woman with her child in Darfur, Western Sudan (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/UNAMID/A.G.Farran)

Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin’s "The Messiah of Darfur"

A peacemaker in times of war

In his multi-layered novel, Sudanese author Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin tells the incredible story of a charismatic "prophet" rallying followers in Darfur, a region devastated by bloody civil war. It is a moving tale of war and love, revenge and hope. Volker Kaminski read the bookMore

Tayeb Salih′s ″Season of Migration to the North″: A literary hall of mirrorsSudan's ex-dictator Bashir at the International Criminal Court: Arab dictators take noteSudan/Chad: War without borders
Algerian ethnologist and poet Habib Tengour (photo: private)

Book fair in Algiers

Habib Tengour and the "Poems of the World"

The Algiers book fair has taken place for the 25th time, following a two-year break owing to the pandemic. Independent Algerian publisher APIC used the occasion to showcase its avant-garde poetry series, initiated by the Algerian poet and ethnologist Habib Tengour. Interview by Regina Keil-SagaweMore

Habib Tengour's "Le Vieux de la Montagne": True legendsFady Joudah's "Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance": A web of living tissuePersian poetry in the 21st century: The poem in contemporary Iran
Preparing Medicine from Honey: Arabic translation of the Materia Medica of Dioscorides, 1224 CE. Calligrapher: ‘Abdullah ibn al-Fadl. Iraq (source: The Met https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451400; Public Domain)

"The Book of Charlatans"

Mediaeval Syria's answer to Mark Twain

In this new bilingual edition, translated by Humphrey Davies, al-Jawbari, one of the thirteenth century's leading experts in skullduggery reveals all there is to know about the wiles of false prophets, quacks, prestidigitators, cat burglars, money changers, false alchemists, and – worst of all – women. By Marcia Lynx QualeyMore

″Scents & Flavors: A Syrian Cookbook″: Muslim master chefsHoda Marmar, administrator of Beirutʹs Bookoholics: Truly, madly, deeply into booksHomoerotic poetry in Islam: Reeling with desire
Etel Adnan, Lebanese American poet and artist (photo: Pierre René-Worms/RFI)

Etel Adnan, Lebanese American poet and artist

A woman full of questions and innocence

Etel Adnan, the artist who transcended the borders of culture and language, may have died in Paris, writes Lebanese author Elias Khoury, yet her death holds a mirror up to the stifling rhythm of what Beirut has become. Indeed, every death now seems a metaphor for the death of BeirutMore

Book review: Etel Adnan's "Conversations with my soul": Illuminating the obscureInterview with Etel Adnan: ''I react to what is happening in the world''Elias Khoury: "Lebanon has always rebelled against political repression"
Catalan-Moroccan author Najat El Hachmi (photo: Orlanda Verlag)

Najat El Hachmi’s "La filla estrangera"

An irrepressible desire for freedom

In her latest novel, Catalan-Moroccan writer Najat El Hachmi tells the story of a young migrant woman struggling to balance her desire for freedom and the demands of tradition and family. With great openness and a sensuous use of language, El Hachmi paints a picture of the timeless conflict encountered by young people striving for self-determination. Volker Kaminski read the book for Qantara.deMore

Leila Slimani's "The Country of Others": Dreams in times of crisisSocial media fosters creative writing in the Maghreb: Published by FacebookMeryem Alaoui's "Straight from the Horse’s Mouth": A fiercely enjoyable feminist fairytaleQantara dossier: "Moroccan literature"
Saif Ghobash Banipal Translation Prize logo (source: arablit.org)

Dialogue of cultures

Banipal Translation Prize 2021: Shortlist of 5

Organisers of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation have announced this year’s shortlist. Three translators have made the shortlist for the first time in 2021: Sarah Enany (for Rasha Adly’s 'The Girl with the Braided Hair'), Sawad Hussain (for Shahla Ujayli’s 'A Bed for the King’s Daughter'), and Elisabeth Jaquette (for Dima Wannous’ 'The Frightened Ones').More

Book review: Dima Wannousʹ "The Frightened Ones": Naked despair laid barePortrait of the Syrian writer Shahla Ujayli: Lessons in empathyBook review: Hassan Blasim's "God 99": A different sort of sacredMan Booker International award: Johka Alharthi scoops a first for Arabic literatureOmar Saif Ghobash′s ″Letters to a young Muslim″: Seeking the Muslim individual

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